Chevron spared full shutdown for Gorgon site
Chevron has managed to sidestep a full shutdown of production at its $US54bn Gorgon LNG export plant in Western Australia.
Chevron has managed to sidestep a full shutdown of production at its $US54bn Gorgon LNG export plant in Western Australia after major cracks were found but will have to bring forward inspections of its remaining units to satisfy the state regulator.
Cracks up to 1m long and 30mm deep on between eight and 11 pressurised propane “kettles”, or heat exchangers, on train 2 of Gorgon were discovered in July during scheduled maintenance, with the gas processing unit expected to be out of service until early September.
WA’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety subsequently conducted an inspection and issued the producer with a remediation notice to inspect the propane heat exchangers on trains 1 and 3 by August 21.
The Department on Friday said Chevron had agreed to shut down train 1 for inspection in early October and train 3 in January.
“Chevron has presented the department with comprehensive safety and technical information that supports an accelerated but staged inspection schedule combined with a range of other controls,” the department said. “This information included details on the origins and nature of the defects as well as the risks associated with various approaches to addressing the uncertainties around trains 1 and 3.”
Chevron said it was satisfied with the compromise.
“Following the planned restart of train 2 in September, Chevron plans to temporarily halt train 1 production to inspect and, if necessary, undertake repairs to its propane heat exchangers,” a Chevron spokesman said.
“The outcome of the inspections on train 1 will inform our work plan and associated schedule.
“Based on our experience on train 2, inspection, repair and restart on train 1 could be around 45-90 days. The combined outcomes from trains 1 and 2 would inform activity and timing on train 3.”
Chevron had previously flagged there may be more problems with cracks, saying the company could be forced to reinspect the first of three production trains in light of cracking found at the facility.
The Gorgon processing plant houses three LNG trains with a combined capacity of 15.6 million tonnes. There has been fears the entire processing facility could face an extended shutdown and loss of production if the problems found in train 2 are replicated in the other facilities.
More than 800 people are currently on the Gorgon site at Barrow Island — located 85km off the Pilbara coast — to carry out maintenance, hiking concern over worker safety.
The kettles were manufactured in South Korea at the same time as those made for the remaining two trains which continue to produce and export LNG to buyers in Asia, the AMWU has said.
Gorgon is 47 per cent owned by Chevron, the operator, while fellow oil super majors ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell each have a 25 per cent stake.
When it was approved in 2009 it was expected to cost $US37bn and start exporting in 2014. But the complications of building on Barrow’s class-A nature reserve, an overheated construction market, workforce issues and a stronger Australian dollar for most of the construction period all contributed to huge budget blowouts and delays.
The US oil major has endured a tough year with 20 of its staff put in lockdown during March amid COVID-19 testing and in May up to 600 jobs cut due to a “perfect storm” of the pandemic and a slump in crude prices.
Chevron, which also operates the Wheatstone LNG plant in WA, said 20-30 per cent of its 2000-strong workforce could be axed, indicating up to 600 job cuts.
The energy operator in June kickstarted one of the biggest shake-ups in the state’s LNG sector for decades after indicating it would sell its 16.7 per cent stake in the $34bn North West Shelf plant, operated by rival Woodside Petroleum.